A Noble Rival
by RogueTempest
Summary: Rina Kimura. A small girl from the Rukongai who has her own reasons for getting stronger and becoming a Soul Reaper. Byakuya Kuchiki could try to get in her way all he wanted. Nobody was going to stop her but slow her down, yes, on numerous occasions. Why was the whole world out to get her? She may just have to mess up the world if this kept up.
1. 1 - Soul Reaper Academy

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'Bleach' or any of its characters, only my own OCs, this goes for the whole story.**

* * *

Rina Kimura didn't want to be here. She would have preferred to stay at home in District 76. Yeah it wasn't the best District but at least it wasn't the snobfest of the Soul Reaper Academy. Rina was a young girl from the Rukongai who had taken the exam as a dare; a joke which had ended badly. She had apparently gotten quite a good score and was now forced to attend the stupid school. She probably wasn't going to be placed in the top class, as her reading and writing wouldn't have been the best, but she honestly couldn't care about this either. If she was completely honest she was actually trying to figure out the quickest way of getting expelled and being allowed to go back home and be with her family and friends, people who cared about her not the strangers who would look down on her and likely want to backstab her at every corner. She wasn't even here because the Soul Reapers scared her it was because her mother frightened her and was going to kill her if she didn't take this 'great opportunity'. The more she thought about it the more she knew she had to take this opportunity, find some sort of goal. In the end all that mattered was that Rina was here and didn't want to be.

Here, specifically, was an auditorium where a bunch of students were wearing really uncomfortable and incredibly white clothes listening to an equally annoying old man go on about how much of an honour it was for all of them to be here and all the things they could potentially achieve. If Rina was going to be forced to come to this place then there was only one thing that she had on her mind, besides escape, was to learn all she could to help her family back home. Obviously she was going to learn lots of different ways to fight which would be useful but she mainly wanted to know how to protect the ones she loved in other ways. If she could even just become a semi-competent healer she would be happy. Rina lost a brother a few years before to an incurable illness. She believed it was only incurable because no one had the knowledge to know otherwise in their remote district. If she could stop this from happening again all of this pain from listening to a boring old man would be worth it. A sickness like that would eventually spread if not contained properly. In other words, Rina's time to complete her goal was limited and her escape would have to wait until she was able to save everyone in the ignored lower districts.

Her inner ramble was stopped by an older boy in the row below her. He was handing a picture to his friend next to him and it had a humorous representation of the elderly gentleman who had yet to stop talking. They had been encouraged to bring paper and pencils with them in order to take notes from the 'inspirational' speech they were being forced to endure. However it would appear that this was just giving some of the less enthused students a chance to release their frustration and boredom. With the same stationery before her, Rina was able to discretely draw on, scrunch up and throw a bit of paper at the same boy who had initial distracted her and given her this idea to cure her terminal boredom. The boy was scared to say the least by the sudden appearance of a rogue paper ball but after turning around to see Rina give him a thumbs up he then returned to opening up her paper creation.

'Love the picture. :) '

It was a few simple words and a crude smiley face but it was enough for the two boys to smile before returning Rina's original thumbs up.

The rest of the lecture continued in this fashion with the boys writing or drawing on paper, placing them so that Rina could see them and then her replies coming in the form of paper balls, facial expressions and occasional hand gestures.

Rina guessed the Academy wouldn't be so bad if she was able to make friends this easily. She was partially right and very wrong.

* * *

The three eventually found and introduced themselves after the lecture was finished and they were allowed to have a break for lunch before being given a tour of the classrooms and extensive grounds, including the living quarters for anyone who isn't a noble and already lived within the Seireitei. The boy who had drawn the picture was surprisingly tall with light hazel eyes and had his long black hair tied in a simple ponytail, his name was Takeo Fugimoto. His friend didn't have to worry about his hair as it was extremely short and also a dirty blonde colour but was even taller and a whole lot more muscular, his name was Aoi Suzuki, which matched the colour of his eyes; blue. Basically little Rina Kimura had made friends with possibly the two biggest boys in her year with both boys towering over just about everyone else in a room. The only difference besides hair and eye colour would be that Takeo was a bit leaner and built more for speed while Aoi was taking strong to a whole new level and built big, tough and just about indestructible. In other words, Rina's life at the Academy had already got off to an interesting start.

"I can't believe they didn't notice you throwing paper for half the talk,"

"I think they probably just wrote 'Beware. Nuisance.' Next to my name on their list,"

"Either way you're awesome,"  
"Thanks Takeo. You too. I love your pictures, they're so life like. Especially the one of that professor,"

"It took me while to get the nose right,"

"Yeah, I'm just surprised they you were even able to fit it on the page,"

Another discernible difference between the two boys was that Takeo was a chatterbox while Aoi would just sit silently with only the occasional laugh at a joke but more often than not a simple nod or shake of the head depending on the topic of discussion. The difference between the boys and Rina, besides gender, was that Rina was considerably younger than them and most of the others in their year as well. Rina Kimura came to be in the Academy from a childish dare, and also a bit of a childish dream, and as such she was still a small child herself. Most of the others were either teenagers or young adults. There may be one or two other smaller children but it was extremely rare for someone so young to pass the entrance test, much less graduate at the same rate as the older students. It typically took 6 years to graduate from the Academy but for some of the younger students it could take an extra couple of years, unless they were particularly gifted and if so they tended to pass in half the expected time. Rina didn't care about making a name for herself, on the contrary wanted quite the opposite, and so wasn't going to try to excel at everything and was content with just trying to stay in the same class she was in now and graduate with everyone else.

The break for lunch continued in a similar fashion until it seemed to end too abruptly for the trio. Fortunately for them, and unfortunately for everyone else, they were sorted into the same group for the tour that would apparently be the same groups as their classes as well. They were told that they were the top class and so encouraged to work as hard as possible in order to maintain that position within the Academy and their lives. Rina ignored this but it seemed to ignite something within Takeo and Aoi who appeared to want that position and accompanying recognition. After the pep-talk they were led to the main classrooms that they would be required to attend and the specific lessons that would take place in each, as well as the standards they would be expected to perform to. Basically Rina just saw a bunch of huge buildings that all looked the same and were less interesting then tying her brown hair into knots, which she was currently doing to the amusement of her new friends and the annoyance of their tour guides and future teachers. It wasn't until a certain name was mentioned that she then stopped everything and payed full attention to what was occurring before her.

"Good afternoon Captain Unohana. What an honour this is. May I ask why you have paid us a visit?"

There now stood before them a tall woman with her black hair in a braid that fell down her chest. She wore a small smile and closed her eyes whenever that smile grew, as it did after being addressed by one of the teachers.

"Akamine. Good afternoon. I came because I was told this was the top class and I just wanted to remind them that Squad 4 is always looking for bright young Soul Reapers who are ready to learn the art of healing and medicine. If they want to they can choice to do a specialisation course here at the Academy, can't they Akamine?"

"Ye-Yes Captain! We-We were just heading towards those facilities right now. Would you like to join us, Captain?"  
Once again the Captain of Squad 4 wore a gentle smile before politely refusing and explaining that she had other duties she needed to attend to promptly. With that stated she turned and elegantly drifted down the hallway out of sight. Akamine proceeded to lead them down a different passage to the room he had mentioned before and began to explain the classes, techniques and training involved with this line of learning. It was a complete contrast to before as Rina hung on every word and everyone else seemed as interested as she had been with her hair.

After the necessary information was said the rest of the tour continued with only the outside training grounds left and then the group split into genders and were led off to see their respective dormitories. The dormitories looked like the rest of the Academy but weren't connected and actually quite a distance away. Basically everything was constructed of a sturdy and well-maintained wood with everything suspiciously clean, especially to someone from the Rukongai. It had been a really busy day and once everyone was handed their timetable they were left in their new homes to rest before Academy life hit them with full force the next day. The tour had taken the whole afternoon and with the quickly fading light and strict rules about going to the male dormitories, and vice versa, Rina couldn't be bothered to go see her friends and instead tried to talk to some of the girls she would now be boarding with. It was obvious that there were many more males enrolled at the Academy than females but that doesn't mean that they are all going to band together and be the best of friends instantly. There were still class boundaries after all.

"Hello, I'm Rina Kimura. Nice to meet you!"

"Oh. Hello. Where are you from?"

"Rukongai, District 76 and-"

"Don't care!"

The particular hallway in the dormitories that Rina was a part of seemed to be full of girls from the upper end of the Rukongai, with Soul Reaper ties, family ties, nobility ties or mobility themselves. Basically it meant that nobody wanted anything to do with a little, unimportant brat from the lower Rukongai. They made it seem like District 76 was as bad as District 80 but from experience Rina knew that not everyone from District 80 was bad and that something as stupid as this doesn't define a person. If only these snobs were that smart. Unfortunately it seemed that the higher the snobbery the lower the intelligence. It would seem that all of these girls would have needed their respective ties in order to pull enough strings to even get in to the Academy in the first place.

At least while all the other girls tried to manipulate each other and determine who was worth befriending, Rina would be able to get a good night's sleep and maybe have a bit of an advantage in the morning for the first intensive day at the Academy.

* * *

Now a little bit more on Rina Kimura. She would only look about 10 or 12 but in this world she was more like twice that old. She had come to the Soul Society when she was only a baby so her age was determined by the weird workings of the Soul Society and not the world of the living. In the Soul Society puberty was the point when you stopped aging 1 year every 2 years and started aging 1 year every 10. It was a weird system but that was just how things worked. It would be another few years before Rina reached that point but at the moment she was just glad that she had enough experience to survive and reach her goal. Most of the others at the Soul Reaper Academy looked to be in their mid-late teens or even twenties, very few came to the Academy much younger but Rina always liked being the exception. The exception to the rule of most infants dying within the first couple of years of being in the Soul Society or surviving hollow attacks or even the likelihood of getting adopted into a family in the lower end of the Rukongai. With this in mind she had two goals now. One, to become a great healer to be able to protect her family back in the Rukongai and now two, to be the exception to the unlikely event of a young female from the Rukongai graduating the Academy. Nothing fancy like graduating quickly or at the top of the class but so long as she graduated and proved everyone wrong and came one step closer to the more important and long term goal.

Her type of family in the dirt of the Rukongai was rare. Hideaki and Namiko Kimura were exceptional people as they took it upon themselves to adopt any abandoned babies they found. They had taken in four children over the years including Rina who was the second youngest. Jun was the first and the one who had died from the illness, the amazing older brother who was a complete gentleman and tried his hardest to protect everyone in sight. Rai was the first girl the couple took in and another great older sibling for Rina, a bit of a princess but still a tad over protective. Rina came next and shortly afterwards they took in the youngest and sweetest, Jiro. 2 boys and 2 girls. In the end they made a good family and, as said before, a rare one. In this area of the Rukongai most adults fended for themselves and the children banded together for protection. A normal family wasn't normal here.

* * *

Back at the Soul Reaper Academy it was the beginning of the first of many days at this institution, and it was not off to a great start. The only highlight was sitting with Takeo and Aoi but everything besides that just kept going downhill. Their teacher, Akamine, was as boring as the lecturer from the day before. The trio spent the class passing notes to each other instead of taking notes about the lesson, with Akamine giving pointed glares at the students whenever he caught them doing so. What came next was plain annoying. They were going to be encouraged for the first week to take their breaks in the classroom so that they would be more likely to interact with everyone in their class. Being around snobby people is painful.

"Kuchiki! You looking forward to kido practice next?"

"If it's anything like the lecture it'll be too easy. As with _everything_ ,"

"How are you this good at everything?"

"Class,"

Rina, Takeo and Aoi were sitting at the back of the lecture theatre, eating lunch and watching the group at the bottom of the room. Most of their classmates were crowded around one young, black haired boy who couldn't look any more like a snob if he was covered in solid gold. He was ranting on about being a child prodigy and being able to pass the Academy instantly if he really wanted to.

"How irritating,"

"Yep,"

A head nod.

Rina and Aoi agreed with Takeo's obvious observation.

"Love to bring him down a peg or two,"

"Yep,"

A head nod.

This was how the conversation continued until they thought of how to change it up, which wasn't hard considering how much the Kuchiki brat was boasting.

"What's even more impressive is your age!"

"Yeah, how old are you Kuchiki?"

"26,"

"Wow!"

"You must be the youngest person here!"

"Most students are over 50! You're half that!"

"Yeah,"

"NOT!"

Aoi and Rina both jumped as the loud mouth between them yelled and stood up from his seat. Now all eyes were on them and while Aoi didn't move after the initial shock Rina proceeded to sink lower in her seat, and given her short height from her young age, she became almost invisible behind the desk.

"Ignore the peasant,"

The Kuchiki only made things worse because now Takeo was walking down to the bottom of the room and dragging the resistant Rina behind him.

"26 isn't the youngest, dumbass. Rina's 21. What do you have to say about that, _Kuchiki_?"

"Liar,"

This led to Rina trying to pull Takeo back from bashing a certain person's skull in and Aoi magically appearing behind the duo to assist Rina in her failing endeavour. Basically it turned into Rina stepping aside and letting Aoi wrap his tree trunk arms around Takeo's chest, pinning his arms and lifting him off the ground so his legs were kicking out in front of him just far enough away so that he couldn't reach Kuchiki. Said boy however took this as an invitation to continue to taunt Takeo, knowing that he couldn't be reached.

"She's just a runt. No way could someone from the Rukongai get into the Academy at a young age. My age is impressive for nobility. So, you telling me that she is better than most of the nobility? Please. Like I said before she's just a runt who's pretending to be special for attention,"

"You would know about, that wouldn't you?"

"What?"

Rina didn't mind being made fun of but she wasn't about to let someone make fun of the Rukongai and the people who suffer and struggle every day to survive while people like this brat live in complete and oblivious safety. She did have an evil side after all, being raised in the violent and survival conditions of the lower Rukongai. She was intending to use this precious skill.

"If you didn't want attention you wouldn't keep talking all this crap. You also wouldn't care so much about being the youngest. What do you have to say about that?"

"You're just trying to make me look bad!"

"And that's not what you were doing when you called me a liar?"

"You are!"

"How would you know how old I am?"

"I-You-Just-…Shut up!"

"Not the best at everything it would seem,"

With this all Rina had to do was poke her tongue out before casually walking back up to her seat, with Aoi carrying a more settled down Takeo in tow, to initiate the first Kuchiki tantrum of the year. And not the last in the slightest. Another incentive to encourage Rina to stay in the top class. Annoying this spoilt brat was going to be very entertaining.

* * *

The rest of the day uncovered a couple of things. One, Rina was very good at kido but when it came to wielding a sword she had a lot to learn. Also, that Kuchiki kid was extremely competitive and likely held a grudge for eternity. Whenever he got a compliment or did something perfectly he would wait before everyone praised him and then look at Rina to see if she got a reaction. She would just smirk and wave. He obviously didn't appreciated this as it always ended in him scowling and turning away. Basically Rina was enjoying herself. Despite her initial thoughts and experience this was turning out to be fun.

Until the weeks continued and Byakuya Kuchiki took the game too seriously and crossed a couple of lines he would soon learn only released the vindictive beast inside the Rukongai girl. But the weeks before this were the best Rina was ever going to have at the Academy.

* * *

The days were spent joking around with Takeo while Aoi kept protective watch over the two. They became hated by the teachers but their background as Rukongai already did that anyway. They were hated by most of the other students as well but that was only because they all wanted to suck up to the Kuchiki who openly spoke about his hate for Rina in particular. It didn't matter much though, it was still fun to mess around and have friends like those back in the Rukongai, people who understood and genuinely cared. The last thing Rina wanted was to start playing the political games of the Sereitei, which could stay up to the nobles and high profiled, ranked soul reapers as far as she was concerned.

Whenever class finished the trio would go to one of the training grounds around the Academy and dormitories. There they would often joke around and occasionally do some of the extra theory work they had been given in classes or practise kido or with sticks to perfect their sword form. It didn't matter whether they were doing work or being stupid they had fun either way.

"Rina! How do you control Spiritual Pressure or Energy or whatever this well?! If I can't pass level 6 I'll have to redo the class! How can you already be up to level 8?! Why is this so hard?!"

Takeo was having another exaggerated rant while Aoi was attempting to teach Rina how to play shogi. This meant that Rina's focus was split between her confusion induced headache and trying to remember how to play the perpetrating board game. In other words Takeo was not taking being ignored very well and so simply increased his annoying level, which meant more whining and louder yelling.

"Rina! Aoi! I need help! Help me! Help! Help! Look a bird! … Rina! Aoi! HELP!"

With this last attempt to get attention Takeo flung himself stomach first onto the ground, conveniently over the one sided game that his two friends were trying to play. This would have worked if Aoi didn't produce another game from his bag and laid it on Takeo's back. Takeo then proceeded to give up and let Rina and Aoi finish the game on his back, which didn't take very long considering Rina wasn't very good and Aoi had been playing just about his whole life. Very one sided.

"Okay Takeo. You need help?"

"Ha ha ha. Funny Kimura,"

"Just focus,"

"Yeah. What Aoi said,"

"I hate you both,"

"Sure. Sure,"

"I mean it!"

"So you don't need our help?"

"… No … Yes … What answer means you'll help me?"

"Just meditate and try to focus your energy into your hands,"

"Then practise taking it away and putting it back to help control the amount of energy in your hands,"

"Then you can try putting different amounts in each hand,"

"Then-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. A lot of work. What will you two do while I sit in silence?"

"Give thanks to all higher beings,"

"Shut up Rina,"

"You need to practise your sword skills,"

"No, no, no, no. Please Aoi. Noooo,"

"Guess Aoi is the only one not going to be in pain,"

"Not if I have a say about it!"

"Rina. Behave,"

"I hate you,"

"No you don't,"


	2. 2 - Detention Worth While

The trio continued studying and practising together for the next month. They tackled each class and each assessment that came their way and helped each other improve upon weaknesses. It was an effective process.

However.

It all fell apart.

The nobles and other higher ups of society didn't like being beaten by a bunch of Rukongai scum and planned their revenge to ensure it never occurred again. It damaged their pride and reputation. Within the space of a week Rina, Takeo and Aoi had come first place in one class each. They had demonstrated that the nobles weren't the best in every area of expertise a soul reaper was required to know. Rina had wiped the floor in her energy control and manipulation. Aoi showed everyone that his tremendous size and strength extended to the characteristics of his energy. Takeo demolished everyone in the fighting arena, it was the only time his mouth wasn't running a million miles an hour but instead his movements took control of this extraordinary speed.

This meant that it would take something as serious as murder to get this particular trio demoted to a lower class and stop them from showing up the nobles by getting them out of the way. There were other ways to get rid of them though. If their scores started falling then the teachers would have no choice but to forget their previous excellence. If they couldn't train or study then they couldn't get better.

That was the plan.

And almost the entire year group was against them.

* * *

"Who raised you? A dog? Piece of dirt!"

Raucous and unnecessary laughter came from a group of largely built males. In the middle of the circle they formed was a male and female pair. They had grown up together and in the Rukongai that meant everything. These nobles didn't understand that bond or the struggles. They just made fun of other's despair.

"Get back! The lot of you!"  
"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it? That little bitch has a lot of nerve refusing us. And you honestly think we're scared of you,"

More loud laughter.

"Don't call her that!"

"Stop Taro,"

"But they can't treat us like this!"

The pair argued and only ended up fuelling the cruelty of the group that surrounded them. What made things worse was the fact that the hallway was full of other students and not one of them lifted a finger. Even teachers walked past without batting an eye. That was how it was at the Soul Reaper Academy. Unless you were someone of importance you got no protection and if you were someone of importance then you could get away with anything. It was easy to distinguish between those that could be attacked and those that couldn't be. It was simple. If they were nobodies then you wouldn't know their names and could do what you wanted. This attitude meant that if you were someone from the Rukongai then you were a target no matter if it was the classrooms, dormitories, corridors or training fields. Nowhere was safe. You could be attacked and beaten to a pulp and then punished for coming late to class or missing it altogether due to being unconscious. If you were a woman you had things much worse than the men from the Rukongai. If you were a female then you could be grabbed and groped at any time and if you were ever found alone, well most committed suicide or left to return home in humiliation and disgrace. Even if you had someone to stand up for you, it did little help if the gang just decided to beat them up first.

"Ha ha ha! It seems that little bitch is smart and cute. How about you hand her over tramp and go back to chewing on your bones, filthy mutt,"

"Don't call her that!"  
With this cry of determination the male half of the pair attempted to attack the leader of the gang who had decided to make the life of himself and his female companion miserable. His clumsy right hook was stopped by two of the other thugs who laughed louder as they threw the scrawny Rukongai boy into a wall and proceeded to grab the arm of the terrified girl.

No matter how much the girl screamed she got no help. The only thing she did receive were glances of annoyance and the occasional comment to be quiet. Her screams turned to silent panic as she was dragged off while her friend laid unconscious against the wall. Until they got to the T-intersection of the corridors.

"Get! Off! Her!"

This was a situation where Takeo's loud voice was both a blessing and a curse. It scared the gang of boys enough for the leader to loosen his grip and Mai to grab the girl's other hand and run her to safety behind Aoi but at the same time it caught the attention of everyone else. It wasn't considered acceptable to stand up to nobles, let alone punch one hard enough in the face so that his nose broke.

After this the scared, and pain filled, cries were coming from the gang of not-so-tough, snivelling even joined in when some of the boys thought it was a smart move to attack Takeo from behind. Aoi stood away from the violence. He kept the girl safely placed behind him and collected her still unconscious partner. This fight was a lot different to the one earlier. Everyone who was witnessing this fight had stopped. Completely. Soon there was an uproar from the bystanders with shouts of 'How dare you!' and 'Stop!'. Hypocrisy at its finest.

"Enough!"

Everyone stopped and turned to see a certain Professor Akamine strolling down the hallway on a mission.

"This fight end now!"

Takeo was then disconnected from his victims, with a lot of help on Rina's part. After this the students in the hallway became divided. Rina, Takeo, Aoi and the two original victims stood on one side and everyone else was on the other. A hallway full of students, a school full of students and they were all on the other side. I guess most people did choose the side that benefitted them the most but it seemed like one of the biggest forms of hypocrisy coming from people who were learning how to become Soul Reapers and protect others. If you weren't willing to protect people now then what right did you have to want to protect people later? Power was truly a corrupting thing.

"You lot are too come with me now! The rest of you go see the nurse,"

"What about these two? They're injured as well. The boy still hasn't woken up, he could have a serious concussion and-"

"Enough! You lot should have thought about that before attacking these poor boys!"  
"Hey! We didn-!"  
"I don't want to hear your excuses! Another word from any of you and that boy won't get any help! Now move!"

Rina attempted to reason with the teacher but when she was completely and rudely ignored Takeo tried to intervene only to receive more threats. Aoi stood silently as always and the girl was still too scared to do anything but throw concerned glances at the boy currently being carried by the blonde giant. Reluctantly they had to follow the marching orders that had received and as they walked down the numerous hallways they had verbal abuse hurled at them from every direction. News must travel fast. And the nobles didn't like the idea of someone resisting their power and authority over those of lower standing. Akamine didn't care about this; he pointedly ignored it. He came from a noble family and believed in the absolute power they should hold over others. He also purposefully led them at a slow pace to his office so that the group of five would have to withstand as much of the abuse and foul language as possible.

The corridors of the Soul Reaper Academy were always flooded with light during the day as the walls were home to giant windows that were spaced closely and made up almost half of the walls themselves. The crowd that was gathering to ridicule the group almost blocked out this light. Both literally and metaphorically, times were getting dark when things such as this was allowed. Rina came to the Soul Reaper Academy to help people and she now knew why she had to become string. She saw why the great force of the Soul Reapers never assisted the desperate people of the Rukongai, they simply didn't care. Unless the Seireitei was under attack the Soul Reapers were likely not to lift a finger.

Making it to Akamine's office only made things worse. Akamine was one of the teachers at the Academy that hated the people of the Rukongai with a passion. They were dirt upon the world, no better than Hollows in his opinion. Most teachers didn't discriminate as it would be a bit obvious on the results and the Head Captain would not look favourably upon such things but being the teacher of the top class meant that it was more likely for those from the Rukongai to not do as well. This meant Akamine was the only teacher who could both discriminate in and outside of class. There were a few teachers who had Rukongai origins and while they didn't discriminate they also couldn't stop the other teachers from doing so at risk of losing their own positions they had to work twice as hard to obtain.

In Akamine's office they were given their punishments which aided the nobles in their quest to eventually get the trio expelled.

"You three! You will have to attend detention for the rest of the semester! This will include cleaning the classrooms, cleaning the weapons and cleaning the training areas. The girl and the unconscious boy will have to _personally_ apologise to that group of boys for causing such an _unnecessary_ fight. That seems fair to me,"

"FAIR!"

This time surprisingly it was Rina who had spoken up and even Takeo and Aoi were shocked by her sudden explosion. She also didn't give anyone time to comment before continuing.

"Fair is not letting those mongrels get away with their disgusting behaviour! Fair is not punishing us for standing up for ourselves! Fair is not turning your back on people when they need help! Fair doesn't exist in this pitiful place!"

"Now listen here you-"  
"No! I refuse to listen to someone who has no honour or respect for life! It doesn't matter if someone has spent their whole life in luxury or has to struggle every day! It doesn't matter if someone comes from the Seireitei or the Rukongai! Things like this shouldn't matter!"

It was only a short rant and when she was finished Akamine once again went to speak, but before he could even make a sound there was the quiet beginning of … applause? Even though the doors had been shut a crowd had still gathered to eavesdrop outside, mainly to gleefully discover what the punishment for the impudent group would be, but some in the crowd were fellow Rukongai citizens. What they were hoping for was just that. Hope. And someone had finally given it to them. One Rina Kimura from the Rukongai, District 76. The students from the Rukongai were few in number and easy targets but now they had a hero. They had come across someone who was brave enough to stand up for them and speak their mind.

The dynamic of the entire Soul Reaper Academy had changed. With just a few simple words.

* * *

This didn't change the fact that Rina, Takeo and Aoi were punished, if anything it actually caused their sentence to be extended from the end of the semester to the end of the year. It may have helped the boy and girl however as when they had to apologise to the gang of boys a whole group of other Rukongai students went with them to stop any funny business from happening. The trio eventually learnt that the names of the pair they had helped were Taro and Misa and as thanks for the rescue they offered to help Rina, Takeo and Aoi with the chores they had been punished with. First it was Taro and Misa and then just about every other Rukongai student in the entire Academy and from every year were offering to help with the work. Eventually they had to make a roster for who would be doing what and when. They also started travelling in larger groups to deter any more attacks and would occasionally come together for 'meetings', or sorts, where they talked about any problems they were having or discrimination they were being subjected to. Basically within a space of a month from the incident in the hallway there was the beginning of a 'Rukongai revolution' within the Soul Reaper Academy.

It was the start of change and of course not everyone was happy about it.

This was when things truly started to fall apart.

The clearing that Rina, Takeo and Aoi would always go to study and train had been taken away from them. Not that it made terribly much difference as they barely had enough time to sleep. The teachers could stop others from volunteering to help with the chores, as it barely used to happen, but they did set in place a rule that if it was for a punishment then the offenders had to be present and with the extra help they were receiving Akamine made sure to add more and more to their already huge list of chores. By the time school was finished and the chores were completed there wasn't much time left to study. They barely slept. Which went on to another trick that was played on them constantly. Some of the others in the dormitory, those that were nobles but decided to stay in the Academy dormitories in order to be closer to the Academy's facilities, that made it nearly impossible for the trio and even some of the other Rukongai students to get any sleep some nights. Once again they would take it in shifts to keep their enemies awake to prevent them from performing well in class.

I'll give you one guess as to who led the resistance group.

Byakuya Kuchiki.

He took quite a bit of personal offense regarding the 'revolution' and so had organised for there to always be a group of 'his' people in that clearing at all times. A few days before he executed his plan both Takeo and Aoi had beaten him in the fighting arena and Rina had surpassed him in reiatsu control. This put a massive dent in his pride that he was not about to forgive or forget easily. He was the one who planned the clearing and the sleep deprivation. He also encouraged, or bribed or blackmailed, some of the teachers to increase the workload and homework and even give them more chores as punishment. He was not going to lose! He refused to lose to them! He was not going to lose to those Rukongai scum! Byakuya Kuchiki refused to lose to those lowly Rukongai trash!

The lack of sleep was the worst part. It put everyone on edge and they even fought amongst themselves at times. Even the trio would end up yelling at each other. They had lost their sanctuary and were slowly losing both their sanity and their hopes at the Academy. Their grades slowly slipped and the meetings became scarcer because no one had the time nor energy to be bothered to attend.

The revolution had taken only seconds to form and was quickly eroding away.

Hope was truly a fickle and fleeting thing.

* * *

"I don't know what those losers were getting so worked up about. Those losers should know better than to attack those of noble upbringing. Really they should just be grateful to even be accepted to come here and be in our very presence,"

I'll give you one guess.

"Yeah!"

"You're right as always Kuchiki!"

"You tell them!"

"They need to show more respect!"

"Well respect is a two-way street,"

Once again the great and powerful Byakuya Kuchiki had to be put in his place and this time Rina didn't need any encouragement to do just that. The snobby noble and all of his followers and admirers were at the bottom of the amphitheatre style classroom while the trio sat on one of the back benches and observed the hilarious display of ass-kissing occurring below them.

"What was that, scum?"

"You don't understand, snob?"

"You don't deserve to be here,"

"Well then neither do a lot of the others. If I don't deserve to be here but I was able to beat you then where do you belong?"  
"Shut up! I don't even have to come here! With the power and influence the Kuchiki family holds I can graduate instantly into a seated position at the snap of my fingers!"

Byakuya seemed triumphant after imparting this bit of knowledge onto Rina and the compliments of awe he received from his loyal group only boosted his ego further.

"Question then. Why haven't you?"

"…What?"  
"Why haven't you graduated yet? There has to be a reason why you were forced to come here. Was it to make political connections or because there is a skill you need to learn? Does teamwork and humility ring any bells?"  
"Take that back!"  
"No,"

Byakuya was slowly approaching the bottom of the steps. He hated this girl! She thought that just because she had gotten into the top class and gotten a few good scores that she had the right to talk to him in this fashion. His hands were fists by his side and trembling as if the air was below freezing. His anger could barely be contained. The only one who ever caused him to act like this was a Captain so who did this worthless girl think she was!

"You're not worth my time,"

"Then stop talking about me,"

"I am not talking about you!"

"Well I thought I was a loser and Rukongai scum and all that. Aren't I? And aren't you always talking about how pathetic and worthless I am? So there. You do always talk about me and you need to stop,"

"You!"

"Yes?"  
"I challenge you to a fight! Next class! Don't chicken out!"

By this time he had already made it so far up the stairs so as to be level with Rina when he made this final declaration. He also didn't wait for her smart and taunting retort but continued to the door of the classroom and disappeared into the hallway. He was going to get his way! One way or another! If she didn't agree to the fight then he would tell the teacher to make her anyway. Either way he would win and prove to everyone the superiority of the nobility.

…

"He does know that I suck at sword fights and everyone knows that, right?"

"Maybe,"

"Rina I think the main problem was that you pushed him a bit too far over the edge,"

"Once someone is over the edge you can't keep pushing them, plus it wouldn't make any further difference,"

"That's not what I meant!"  
"I know,"

"Behave,"

As usual Aoi didn't say much and tried his hardest to stop a playful fight from breaking out between Rina and Takeo. Rina continued to stir Takeo up and Takeo continued to take every bit of bait she laid out for him.

Maybe things were going back to normal.

As normal as it could be in this cruel place that is.

It also wouldn't last forever.

The next class was, of course, sword fighting and came a bit too quickly. Rina would have preferred to rest her head on the desk for a bit longer and she maybe should have thought of this before spending most of the break arguing with the Kuchiki. Saying that she also couldn't allow the stuck up, noble brat to continue to mock others from the Rukongai. If it was only about her then she may have let it slip, even though Takeo and Aoi would have stood up for her, but if someone disregarded anyone else's pain and torment or laughed at it then they would pay one way or another. At the moment Rina only had the strength to verbal battle but maybe, just maybe, she could find an inner strength to defeat him and prove she wasn't weak, just like everyone else from the Rukongai.

The classroom that the sword practise took place in was a large wooden building that was slightly separated from the main building. There was a single passageway leading to the building and there were clearings on the other three sides that were occasionally used for outside training. The building itself was made entirely of wood, from the floors to the walls to the ceiling. The trio, and by this point most of the other Rukongai students, knew every inch of this place as they had to polish the wood almost every day. Both the outside and inside of the building was left the natural wood colour and the ceiling was flat. However, the interior was a bit more intricate with its layout and design. The middle area was quite large and took up most of the floor of the building, it was also lower than the rest of the room as the ring of this arena area was risen up as steps to be used as benches, on two sides at least. There was nothing but a few barrels of wooden training swords near the entrance of the building with the benches then leading off from this on both adjacent sides. It was the side opposite the entrance that was the most interesting. This was another bit of flat flooring, still raised higher than the fighting area, which was usually covered in cushions for the instructors or important observers to sit on and also displayed a few of the more precious items in the room. A few zanpakuto were placed on the wall here as a sort of reminder and motivation for what the students were truly fighting for.

When Rina, Takeo and Aoi entered the building most of the others in their class were already assembled but instead of standing in the middle section of the room they were seated on the surrounding benches. Only Byakuya stood in the centre. With their teacher, another Rukongai hater, standing on the raised pedestal opposite the entrance there was obviously nothing that could stop the impending fight. Not that Rina could refuse anyway. Nobles weren't the only ones that had pride.

"Good luck kid,"

Simple words from Takeo and a comforting hand on the shoulder from Aoi.

Could only do so much to boost Rina's confidence.

"You ready weakling?"  
"Weak? Really? This coming from the guy who is purposefully challenging someone he knows he can beat. You didn't challenge anyone else because you know you would lose. Not exactly the bravest thing I've seen in my short years,"

"Shut up!"

"You started this trash talk, coward,"

"What did you say?!"

The teacher then had to step in to stop the yelling contest and get the real fight underway, mainly with a direct threat at Rina to fail her and her friends if she didn't quiet down immediately. Once the two youngest students in the Soul Reaper Academy had their wooden weapons in hand the match was able to get underway.

From the beginning it was one-sided. Byakuya knew he could win easily but wanted to draw out the loser's humiliation. For a time he would easily defend every thrust of Rina's sword and then would deliver a few well-placed hits of his own to injury and hurt his female opponent. By the end of a couple of minutes Rina was covered in sweat and breathing heavily while Byakuya had barely batted an eye. It was only now that Rina was having any regrets about her protective outburst that started all of this. It was only slight and only brief but it had been there nonetheless.

Maybe she couldn't win every fight.

Maybe the loudest or smartest yell didn't always get a positive result.

Maybe she really was weak…


	3. 3 - Rukongai Revolution

Both fortunately and unfortunately the fight was interrupted before Byakuya could decide to make the final blow and claim his victory. Another teacher, who Rina did not recognise, burst through the doors of the sparring arena causing both Rina and Byakyua to be distracted from the one-sided fight. A most of the shouted words were undecipherable but the as soon as the word 'fight' was heard their teacher was out the door following his colleague. There was a command briefly barked at the students in the room but that was easily ignored by all, even the perfect noble students including Byakuya, as they came together as a mass to find the answer to their burning curiosity. The fight was forgotten and the bystander benches were deserted in an instant.

In the excitement both Rina and Byakuya forgot that they still had a hold of the wooden sparring swords.

I wonder who would realise first.

In the confusion of the body of people it was difficult for Rina to find Takeo and Aoi but this was a situation where their extreme height became a blessing for the short one of the trio. It didn't take long for Aoi to come along and hoist the little Kimura onto his shoulders and away from the stampede where she could potentially be trampled, most likely on purpose as well. After that it didn't take long for Takeo to find himself shoved into the blonde giant's side by a well-placed elbow. At least they were all together but they then came to the realisation that they were in an extremely dangerous situation. As shown by Aoi's observation and Takeo being attacked the trio couldn't deny that they were now easy targets within the confusion of the mass of bodies, with most of these bodies belonging to the enemy it was admittedly a very bad situation for them to say the least.

At least nothing else happened as most of the students would have been focused on thinking about what the commotion could have been. They weren't exactly known for their patience. This meant it was a good distraction but at the same time the group was continuously expanding as more and more classes heard the news or noise and joined the curious students on their march of discovery.

It was exciting for most and scary for some.

This scared feeling turned to anger at the unveiling of the cause of the commotion, excluding curiosity of course.

The whole thing was because another group of stuck-up, snobby, evil, self-centred, cold-hearted nobles had decided to gang up on another defenceless Rukongai born student. Of course this wouldn't usually be enough for the teachers to concern themselves with except for the fact that another 'lower standing' student had decided to take things into their own hands, much like what Rina had done, and stand up to the senseless gang. This was what had finally caught the attention of the teachers but they didn't care about who started it or for what reasons it was only about protecting those that were deemed important.

"You! Girl! Stand down now!"

"Or what?! Someone needs to stand up to you and protect those who you refuse to lift a single finger for!"

"You will be expelled for this! You filth-!"

The teacher wasn't allowed to finish their insult as Rina was the next Rukongai student to take things into her own hands. She didn't know or care what teacher she had stuck, with any luck it would be Akamine, but she was thankful she had brought the wooden sword along with her. From her perch on Aoi's shoulder she was able to get enough momentum behind her swing when she jumped off to hit the man hard enough on the back of the head to actually knock the adult out and have him lying flat on his face.

This would have been an 'uh-oh' situation if it wasn't for the fact that the tiny girl who looked like she was barely 13 was seeing red. Blood red. Her light brown hair was in its normal messy bun but was even more dishevelled than usual from her earlier fight with Byakuya. This was almost unnoticed though. It was her fierce green eyes that had everyone suddenly on edge. Her stare gave away her intentions of cutting down everyone before her and they were all just grateful that the weapon she held was only wooden because if it had been real, even dull steel, they wouldn't have stood a chance against her wrath. For the first time since the whole noble-Rukongai fighting had started people were starting to regret it had begun at all. The mercy had left the usually cute girl and her anger was on the point of boiling over. Even the other teachers were hesitant to step forward and deal with the current mood of the child.

Rina Kimura was standing in front of the girl who had initially caused this current situation. The younger female was not about to let someone suffer for her decision to be defiant. She was somewhat happy that others were realising that they had a right to stand-up for and defend themselves but she also needed to take responsibility for starting this.

"Miss Kimura…"  
This caught Rina's attention. She had never been referred to in such a way in this tone and for a split second she was no longer seeing red. She didn't want to take her eyes off the enemy but she also needed to acknowledge the young woman behind her. A nod of the head was all that she was able to give but it must have conveyed the message effectively as the woman spoke once again and much louder.

"Thank you miss!"  
"Just make sure your friend is alright,"

With another nod from Rina and an unseen nod from the other girl this second girl went over to the unconscious Rukongai student that was lying in amongst the gang that had initially attacked. During this exchange Takeo and Aoi had come forward from the group that had congregated around the scene to join their little but extremely defiant friend. They stood on either side of her and slightly behind. She was the unknown leader of this revolution and it was her determined face that would get the point across. She had started this and would do whatever it took to finish it but most of all she was going to win and get her important point across.

"You three again!"  
This time it was definitely Akamine. The surrounding area had gone more or less silent after Rina took down the teacher and made her stand so this yell from Akamine was carried even further and sounded very furious. All of the students present, whether they be Rukongai or noble, moved out of the way of the angry teacher on a mission of destruction, even Byakuya was so taken back from the loud noise that he took a couple of steps to the side to make way for the teacher.

"You three and that female accomplice of yours will be getting into serious trouble this time! I promise you that sooner or later I will succeed in getting you lot expelled! This fine establishment was not meant to hold ungrateful low-lives such as yourselves! You are a disgrace to the Soul Reaper Academy!"

This was the last straw. If Rina was going to start a revolution then she was going to take the reins and charge with it.

"We wouldn't have to be like this if you protected us! You! The Soul Reapers! Everyone from the Seireitei! Everyone with power in this world! You do nothing to protect us! That is the only reason why people from the Rukongai come to this corrupt and pathetic school! If you don't want us here then how about doing your job and protecting us in the first place! But no! You want us to beg for your protection just to boost your own egos! But it doesn't even matter because you don't get off your lazy, no good ass anyway! You're not heroes! You're the biggest villains in this world! And least we aren't forced to live with Hollows but apparently being tormented and beaten everyday by you lot is okay! I suppose it's just our cost for getting your protection! Do you honestly expect us to be grateful or something! You call us a disgrace! You are the true disgrace! All of these values that you rant about in class that Soul Reapers are supposed to uphold are complete bullshit! Just like you and the rest of you stuck-up, snobby, useless, cowardly nobles!"

The room was truly silent now. No one dared to speak. Rina was breathing heavily after her rant but still looking at the small group of teachers that stood before her as if she was willing hell to come up and devour their souls. The students that stood behind these teachers in false hope of protection were ensuring to look everywhere but in her eyes. They couldn't handle or even comprehend the pure hatred within them. Even Byakuya looked uncomfortable and couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye. His wooden sword had fallen to the ground during Rina's rant but the sound it had made was inaudible over her surprisingly loud and passionate voice. It now lay forgotten. No physical object could battle or protect from these words. It had hit every one of them in their pride. The one thing they valued above all else.

No one dared to speak.

No one dared to move.

Except those who were unashamed by her powerful words.

Slowly some students did start to move and they walked forward towards Rina. One by one the Rukongai students separated themselves from the others and moved to stand behind the one who had unwillingly become their leader and their hope. Unwillingly but still accepted nonetheless.

Soon the original woman from before, who looked to be around the same age as Takeo and Aoi, was having help in tending to their fallen comrade. The rest were standing in defiance and support behind Rina.

Still none of the other students or teachers had moved.

This was the turning point the one-sided war that had been occurring within the walls of the Soul Reaper Academy since its founding. Those who were considered of lesser birth were no longer going to allow others to push them down and walk all over them. They had hope. They had a taste of freedom and they refused to let go.

Not everyone was happy about this. As before they would be stopped and sabotaged at every turn in the road. There would be pain and hardship around every corner but this time everyone was willing to act. It was no longer only Rina, Takeo and Aoi that were willing to do something about it. The other Rukongai students were making a silent pact that they would all stand together and fight. This wasn't like last time where they merely talked about their problems or offered to help with the detention work. They were all going to act and be defiant.

The revolution was beginning.

Good luck stopping it.

* * *

The girl who had been standing up to the gang of nobles was called Amaya. She was a third year and the person who had been knocked unconscious by the group of cowards had been a classmate of hers. He had recovered shortly after the staring contest between the two sides had come to a close with Akamine announcing that all students were to return to their classes and if they didn't they would suffer grave consequences. Of course none of the Rukongai students moved until all of the others had cleared the hallways and their recently conscious ally had no idea what was going on and was eagerly filled in by a few of his other classmates. All he did was nod his head and get to his feet. He walked over to Amaya to give her a hug and then outstretched his hand to Rina. A simple handshake was all that was needed to convey a heartfelt thankyou and symbolise loyalty.

However Akamine kept to his promise. It got to the point where the Rukongai students were starting to head back to their classrooms, in groups of course, and it was then that the foul teacher made good on the threat.

"Rina!"

He wanted to make doubly sure that he had the attention of as many of the Rukongai scum as possible. They were going to watch their leader fall.

"You will be seeing the Principal after this and I can assure you that if you aren't expelled at the very least you will receive a severe suspension!"

With each word his voice rose until everyone in the surrounding classrooms could also hear the declaration. This enraged the Rukongai students though and that was one thing that Akamine must not have thought through when he became determined to crush the insolence of the idea of a 'rebellion' or 'revolution'. The students that were beginning to empty out of the passageway slowly started to return. Their facial expressions were blank but their eyes were fierce with anger and determination. Determination for freedom.

It didn't take long for Akamine to leave after that. All of his power and confidence was born from and based on fear. Without that he was nothing.

His absence led to the hallway being silent even though it was still packed with students. Nobody knew what to say. Some barely knew what was going on. They had made a stand to fight for their freedom against the unfair oppression they were subjected to in the Academy but they still weren't completely sure how they were going to fight. They knew what they wanted just not how to get it. It was a thoughtful and somewhat confused silence but if it continued to fester their spirits could start to wither after only a short time of being truly alive.

"We should probably all get back to class,"

Everyone turned to Rina but other than that they didn't move or speak. They were all intent on listening to every word their hero had to say.

"The best thing we can do is to be the best students we can. If we show them that we are the best then there is nothing they can do to us. They won't expel someone from the top class so I should be fine. It's only when our marks fall that we might have a problem but so long as we stay above even one noble then they have no legitimate excuse to get rid of us without taking out one of their own. Go to classes as normal and work as hard as you can. Stay in groups and don't start fights but do everything in your power to finish them. Alright?"

There was a quiet response to this as everyone took the time to properly process the words. Rina may not want to be the leader but she also wanted to do all that she could to help everyone and stop them from getting hurt. If she could convince them not to antagonise any problems then she could say that she at least accomplished something. Afterwards there were mostly slow nods of the head and a couple of whispers here and there but it soon led to the dispersal of the unplanned gathering. Rina, Takeo, Aoi and Amaya were the last ones left in the hallway.

"Thank you,"

"It's alright,"

"No it's not!...I'm sorry. It's just that…I caused all of this trouble for you. Are you sure you won't get expelled for this?"  
From her words and actions it was sometimes hard to believe that Rina still only appeared to be a child. She was half the height of most and usually less than half of their age, both in reality and appearance. This meant that when she went to give the older girl a hug she barely made it past Amaya's waist but Rina needed Amaya to know that everything was going to be fine and the young leader didn't blame her for anything.

"You didn't cause anything. The only ones I blame are those noble brats,"

She could go to being eloquent and inspirational to being an immature child in an instant but somehow it didn't make her words any less truthful or powerful. After this Amaya walked back down the hallway to where she was supposed to be attending class, leaving the original trio by themselves.

"She's nice,"

"See Rina. You can make friends,"

"Shut up Takeo,"

"Make me,"

"I hate you,"

"No you don't,"

"Yes I do,"

This continued back to the training arena with Aoi having to deliver firm hits to the head in order to shut the pair up before they entered the slightly separated wooden structure. It was better not to start any more problems than the mountain they already had to deal with. Rina was not often the wise and mature one in the group but every now and then she could have her moments and they seemed to have the greatest impact.

When the trio did enter the room they were met by a segregation. The nobles sat on one side of the room giving them angry and evil stares while their Rukongai allies were on the benches on the other side of the room and everyone in this party were smiling at the new presences in the room. Of course the teacher was at the back looking entirely displeased by the whole thing and Byakuya stood in the allocated fighting area ready for a rematch.

The rematch didn't go any better than the first time except that he was so angry and unable to control it that he won the bout almost instantly. This wasn't what angered everyone. It was after Rina had been defeated and disarmed that another problem was created. Byakuya didn't stop his attacks once he had won. He was truly enraged by her utter disrespect towards his family and everything it stood for. His prestige was not something that could be torn down by a few words from some worthless trash.

Luckily Takeo was just as impulsive when it came to his rage quickly boiling over as the Kuchiki brat was. Fortunately Aoi had a bit more sense than his darker haired companion as well. While Takeo charged forward to personally stop the beating Aoi tasked himself with ensuring that nobody else decided to join the fight and turn the lesson into an all-out brawl. Basically what happened was Byakuya's disregard for the conclusion of the fight and beating an unarmed opponent, not that those sort of things regarding fair fights every seemed to bother the nobles, caused Takeo to step in and reduce any further injury to Rina.

The teacher of course did nothing but admonish Takeo for stepping into a fight that wasn't his and ignored how his words were affecting the other students. Aoi had to remind the Rukongai students of what Rina had said only a short time beforehand in the hallway and that all the little girl wanted was no one to get hurt. This reminder of their chosen leader helped to somewhat erase the picture of Rina they were currently seeing as she was being held unconscious in Takeo's arms. The taunts and jeers from the noble side of the room didn't help with anyone's rage.

"Good riddance!"

"Serves her right!"

"Great job Kuchiki!"

It wasn't the best class in history but it could have been a lot worse.

* * *

"…What happened…?"

"You're finally awake. Good,"  
Rina found herself waking up to the white walls of the Soul Reaper Academy's infirmary with Takeo by her side. The last thing the Kimura remembered seeing was Byakyua Kuchiki's wooden sword as it came towards her head. Of course she was recalling this when she was disarmed and lying on the floor looking up at her assailant as blood already started dripping into her eyes and down her face. The noble hadn't pulled any of his hits; to say he was pissed off would be an understatement. Luckily Rina was only conscious for the first blow once she was on the ground. She had received several more but had quickly lost consciousness after the first forceful blow.

Although she didn't realise how many she had gotten or how hard they were until she attempted to sit up and promptly threw up into the conveniently placed bucket next to the bed, on the other side to where Takeo was seated of course.

"Easy,"

Takeo rubbed her back as she finished emptying the contents of her stomach and then helped her to lie back down again. He was such a big brother. Reminder Rina a bit of Jun…

"How about we agree not to move again?"

"Shut up. … Where's Aoi?"

Takeo seemed genuinely hurt by this statement but his accompanying comment made all of Rina's concerns about this disappear instantly.

"Am I not good enough to keep you company anymore?"

"Nope,"

Her reply was instant and cruel but at least succeeded in getting a reasonable answer from her often loud, chatty and irresponsible friend.

"Aoi's in class taking notes so we can catch up later and also making sure that nobody attempts to strangle Kuchiki while we're gone,"

"Yeah, you did dibs killing him after all,"

"Exactly!"

They promptly got 'shushed' by the nurse but after a double-take, realising that Rina was now awake, the woman made her way over to the duo. It was a quick analysis of Rina's head injuries and a fractured arm, which the girl hadn't noticed until the woman proceeded to start moving it around and cause more agony for the girl, before Takeo and Rina were left alone again. The only problem with this was that Takeo didn't work well in silence and Rina wanted to spend a little bit of time thinking about the eventful past hour or so.

"Do you really think they will suspend you?"

"Short of me killing someone I doubt they will expel me but I'm more concerned about what's going to happen next,"

"What do you mean?"  
"I asked the others not to start fights but if the nobles start seeing us as a serious threat then their instincts will be to attack first. Either way I don't like what's coming. I wanted to stop people getting hurt not make it worse,"

"You haven't made things worse,"

Takeo had now placed his hand on Rina's head and slowly moved it in soothing circles, messing up her light brown hair that was still in its ponytail.

Jun…

"Last time I checked I didn't have a broken arm yesterday,"

"It's only fractured,"

"Only,"

Rina tried to punch Takeo in the face but the fact that she couldn't sit up without being sick combined with the fact that she was almost half his size meant that she couldn't reach. Takeo didn't even have to fully stretch his arm to reach her head while she probably couldn't even hit his chest if she tried. Wait… Yep. Couldn't reach.

"I hate being small,"

"Don't sulk over something like that. You still have a lot of growing ahead of you. It wouldn't be as bad if everyone else in the school was the same age as you but you are something like a third or a quarter of the age of most. Of course you're shorter but your also stronger compared to everyone else when they were at your age,"

"Except Kuchiki,"

"Don't worry. I have a feeling every Rukongai in the Academy will help you in any way they can to kick his ass,"

"And the teachers and nobles will do everything they can to stop us. That's how it works, right?"  
"Something like that,"

This time Takeo greeted the silence amiably. He had a lot of things to think about now as well. Mainly how to stop Rina from sulking while simultaneously kicking the smugness out of every noble alive. Both seemed extremely unachievable.

Nope. Takeo couldn't stand the silence.

"Do you think you're still expected to go to the principal's office?"  
"That will all depend on whether I'm able to walk within the next hour,"

"I don't think Akamine will appreciate having to come to you,"

"Actually on second thoughts it is quite nice in this bland and boring room I think I may need to stay overnight. Just to ensure I don't have a lingering concussion of course,"

"Of course,"


End file.
